Eyelash comb



Sept. 10, 1929.

J. P. MILLER ET AL 1,727,837

EYELASH COMB Filed Sept. 17, 1927 ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEANNE I. MILLER AND EDWARD F. MILLER, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

EYELASH COMB.

Application filed September 17, 1927. Serial No. 220,086.

This invention relates broadly to combs and more particularly to eyelashcombs.

In the application of mascara and like cosmetics to the eyelashesconsiderable difliculty is encountered in applying the mascara evenly,so that the individual lash is not covered with clots of the cosmetic ortwo or more lashes stuck together to afford a decidedly artificialaspect. At the present time, after the mascara is applied an attempt ismade to obtain a natural appearance of the eyelashes by brushing themwith a small brush of the order of an undersized childs tooth brush, butthis treatment frequently results in removing part of the cosmetic fromthe eyelashes and giving each eyelash a streaked appearance,particularly if the one applying the cosmetic is not skilled in theapplication.

The present invention seeks means to separate the individual lashesafter mascara has been applied to give the eyelashes a natural butenhanced appearance. To this end a comb is provided which is of a sizeand shape to permit its convenient use in connection with the contour ofthe face. More particularly, the ends of the teeth lie in a line whichconforms generally to the superficial shape of the eyeball while thehandle is directed gener ally away from the median line of the toothedpart of the comb for convenient grasp of the user. The end of thetoothed part, away from the handle, is curved so as to permit the teethto reach the eyelashes at the extreme inner corner of the eye withoutinterference by the bridge of the nose.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect the same will now be described more fully inconnection with the accompanying drawings, illustrating one modificationby which the in vention may be realizedpand in which:

Figure 1 is a view, in side elevation, showing an eyelash comb inaccordance with this invention, in association with'a scale in inches toemphasize the relative smallness thereof. Figure 2 is a view showing thecomb looking from the right in Figure 1.

The toothed portion 10 of the comb is formed with a plurality of teeth11, substantially from thirty-two to thirty-six to the inch, and theends of these teeth 11 lie in a line which conforms generally to thesuperficial surface of the eyeball.

Upon reflection it will be recognized that the eyeball is not a perfectsphere or ellipsoid but that the pupil projects outwardly beyond thesuperficial surface of the rest of the eyeball in a curve of relativelyshorter radius and that the pupil is not centrally disposed between thecorners of the eye but is somewhat nearer the bridge of the nose.Further, the outer portion of the eyelids are substantially flattened.Accordingly therefore the ends of the teeth 11 terminate in a line whichis in part defined by a compound curve and in part by a tangent to thatcurve. Thus from the inner end 13 of the comb to a point short of themiddle of the toothed part the teeth ends terminate in a gradual curve,extending say from about the point a to about 7 0 the point 6 and thiscurve merges at about the point 6 into a curve of lesser radius 7) 0 sothat the line is indented more at this point, as shown. The curve 6 0 isadopted to register substantially with the pupil of the eye while thecurve a Z) is adopted to substantially conform to the inner edge of theeyelid which, as is well known, extends somewhat sharply in toward theinside corner at the bridge of the nose.

From about the point 0 to what may be called the heel of the comb, at (Zthe ends of the teeth 11 lie in a line which is practically straight andis tangent to the curve I) c at substantially the point 0 and isrelatively long because from that portion of the eyelid behind which theeyeball lies when the eye is looking to the front to the outside cornerof the eye the eyelid is relatively long and recedes sharply and mergesinto the side of the face. Thus considering a chord of the curve 6 c theteeth 11 at the end (I? may be considered as projecting outwardlyconsiderably further than the ends of the teeth at the point or end 13of the comb.

The angle between the side of the average nose at the bridge and thesurface of the eyelid next to the bridge of the nose is acute andprovision must therefore be made for the teeth of the point of the combto reach the eyelashes at the extreme inner corner. To this end the end12 of the comb is curved. Thus between the top and bottom edges, asviewed in the figures, the upper portion of the end 13 is curvedrearwardly to merge into the top edge 14 while the bottom portion 15 iscurved downwardly and inwardly so that the end member 12 is tapered. v

The use of acomb for the eyelashes is a rather delicate operation andrequires the utmost freedom of motion of the arm in order that themuscles may not be constrained and thus hinder the delicate touchnecessary. A handle 16 is therefore formed on the toothed portion 10which recedes from the general longitudinal median line of the toothedportion and the longitudinal median line of the handle 16 mayconveniently lie at an angle of about 30 thereto. lVere the handle notset at such an angle the movements of the arm and hand holding the samewould be awkward in the extreme.

Such a comb is necessarily of extremely small size and to illustrate therelative size of the preferred embodiment a scale representing threeinches is shown immediately therebeneath in Figure 1.

In use after mascara or like cosmetic has been applied to the eyelashesand while the applied substance is still moist the comb is brought tothe eyelashes on one lid, if the upper lid, so that the teeth lie in aplane about 30 away from the vertical and the ends of the teeth contactwith the eyelid. Then as the teeth are inserted between the eyelashesthe comb is gradually rotated about its longitudinal median line whilethe ends of the teeth are held against the lid until the comb liessubstantially in a horizontal plane and the comb is gradually passed upthe eyelid, thecomb being raised as a whole so that the eyelashes aredeflected to substantially vertical position as they move downwardlywith respect to the comb. This operation may be repeated as often asnecessary until the individual eyelashes are all separate.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art in thecomposition and configuration of the component elements going to make upthe comb as a whole and no limitation is intended by the foregOiIlgdescription or accompanying illustration except as set forth in theappended claims.

What we claim is: r

1. An eyelash comb comprising a toothed portion whereof the ends of theteeth lie in a line whereof one end is a curve of relatively greatradius merging into a curve of relatively short radius and the other isa straight line tangent to the second mentioned curve.

2. An eyelash comb comprising a tooth portion whereof the ends of theteeth lie in a line which recedes from a line joining the ends of theextreme teeth and which line of tooth ends is defined on one side of themid-point of the comb by a curve of relatively short radius, which curvemerges at one side into a curve of greater radius extending to theextremity of the comb and merges on the other side into a line tangentthereto.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

JEANNE P. MILLER. EDWARD F. MILLER.

